Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

U-S-A!

Last night was an unforgettable one at Citizens Bank Park.

I vivdly remember how I learned about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. (Alarm clock radio went off and Howard Stern told me.) I remember the haze of the rest of the day. (Had a rehab appointment following ACL surgery. Still went. Not sure why.) But last night we finally got some good news. U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden.

My Twitter feed showed President Obama planned to address the nation at 10:30 p.m., so I knew something was up. Something big. Then as time passed the news slowly leaked onto Twitter.

Bin Laden has been killed …

Bin Laden is dead …

They were just rumors at one point, but CNN and other places finally confirmed them. It was real. It did not take long for word to spread in the ballpark via smart phones and text messages. In the top of the ninth inning the chants started …

“U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”

The players had no clue what was happening. They learned a few minutes later.

The best quote of the night came from Mets third baseman David Wright:

“I don’t like to give Philadelphia fans too much credit, but they got this one right.

“One of the first things I thought about was coming from Walter Reed, the emotions that those guys must be going through hearing that same news. As proud and as great a moment as it was for me being on a baseball field, you multiply that by a million. That’s probably what they’re feeling at the fire houses, at the police stations, at the places like Walter Reed. It’s just an incredible moment and for a split second, for more than a split second, you kind of come together. You’ve got the New Yorkers, you’ve got the Philadelphians, the city, you kind of come together for a common cause. It put a smile on my face before I even knew what was going on, and then made me feel a lot better after I found out.”

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18 Comments

I was sitting in the Hall of Fame Club last night right in front of press row, and at no moment was I more proud to be a fan than when those “USA!” chants started to ring throughout the ballpark. However — as news continued to spread, the fans were certain that the game would be paused for the President’s address, or at least a general announcement would be made.

That Phillies management put the game ahead of such a historic, unforgettable moment at least gives me (and I’m sure others) pause as to what their priorities were ….and should have been. Reading quotes from the Mets players this morning, including Chris Young’s thought that there’s stuff much more important than baseball at that moment, shows they have the proper perspective of what Osama Bin Laden’s death meant not just to our country, but to the world.

The game should’ve been paused and that insanely large jumbo tron in left field put to better use. You wanna know why all the seats emptied around us? Those fans — chanting and hugging and generally more politically aware than the suits in the ballpark — wanted to hear POTUS, not watch a baseball game.

It never dawned on me that they should stop the baseball game. It would make no sense. It is a momentous moment in history, yes, but life goes on in America. The moment was captured by Mets and Phillies fans hugging and high-fiving over the killing of the face of Al Qaeda, and the loud and bositerous chants of “U-S-A”!!!
So, play ball!!

Stephanie….You might be right about pausing the game. But don’t blame the Phillies organization. I think that decision has to be made by MLB, and/or ESPN. And we all know the power of national TV, in generating revenue.
That said….I’m kind of glad they didn’t interrupt the game. THAT’s how I found out about Bin Laden’s death. And I was never so proud to hear the chants of “USA! USA!” from both Phillies AND Mets fans.

Nearly ten years, two “wars”, several trillion dollars spent and thousands more Americans and hundred of thousands of other killed, excuse me if I do not get warm and fuzzy over the fact that a 6’5″ Arab, dragging around a dialysis machine, is finally caught and dealt with. The Phillies did the right thing by keeping the game going as did ESPN by continuing to broadcast the game.

After 9/11 everyone said “Keep doing what you normally do, if you give up the terrorists win.” Everyone had their moment of celebration, but the best way to acknowledge the death of this man is to keep doing what we do. To move on past this moment in history and allow his evil to finally be gone. There are still battles and wars to be waged against the hatred and violence he spread. One head of the hydra has been removed, there are still 6 others to deal with and eventually the 7th head will grow back. The best thing we can do is keep supporting the values and virtues of America; Mom, apple pie and baseball.

Just goes to show that when you put sleep ahead of the Phils big things happen!! I confess I went to bed before the news broke on Bin Laden’s death and heard about it while checking the outcome of the game this morning.

What better place to have this news happen with a national audience than Philadelphia and also playing the Mets who are in close proximty to Ground Zero. Very cool and amazing that this had been in the works for almost a yr and was kept quiet in this day and age of twitter/FB/24-7 news.

Karen! Shame on you! LOL! But I confess…..Because it was on ESPN, and I can’t stand listening to any but Philly commentators, I didn’t even turn the game on until the top of the 9th, when all the drama started. LOVED hearing the “USA! USA!” chants from Phillies AND Mets fans!

I was up in the 244 when my girlfriend text me. Then my buddy looked at me and said hey osama is dead. i was like i heard that too. then about ten minutes go by and rumblings in the stadium started then the USA chant broke out. It was very moving.

Being a proud philly fan and proud american…I’m also proud to say I was one of the 45,000 doing the chanting at last nights game! Unfortunately the phillies lost in 14 innings…I arrived back in allentown to find my car had been towed, and I now have to pay $ 150 to get it bk. ….I had a great time.through it all and thanks to that news report….at least something went right! God bless america!

Brenda….How lucky to were, to be at the game!!! Despite the Phils loss, and your car being towed. I was at the game on Sat. And even though I witnessed a win, I would have gladly traded places with you!

Todd….You couldn’t have said it better! And thank you so much for giving kudos to what David Wright said. It made me sick, that fans on your Facebook page, were slamming him. They obviously didn’t get it.

norma, the only part quoted on the FB page was David W. saying he “didn’t like to give phils fans a lot of credit, but they got this one right.” Sounded like a back-handed compliment to me. Anyway, regardless of him and his 2 cents, it was very cool to hear the road of the chant on TV and realize that crowd of 45K knew what was going on outside of CBP. And as someone pointed out, it was the 9th, and it was 1-1. How appropriate!

I guess if the Phils had to lose to the Mets, this was the least painful way of do it. It’s hard to feel angry or upset about a lost baseball game when the world’s worst mass murderer was finally caught and killed. I won’t celebrate anyone’s death, but it’s hard to not be happy that the world has become a little safer and the victory over terrorism looks attainable.

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